Samsung YH-820, 920 and 925 port page

Player info

Port Status

The port is functional (see below).

Bootloader

Dual boot is supported by booting either /.rockbox/rockbox.mi4 or /SYSTEM/OF.[mi4|bin].In order to boot the OF, press the left button immediately after the Rockbox bootloader pops up (a half second before may work also, it needs some timing).

Installation

Rename the OF (original firmware) file in the SYSTEM folder to "OF.mi4" if you want to preserve dual boot. Note: The system folder is hidden by default. You may need to activate "Show hidden files and folders" if you're on Windows.

Overwrite the OF file in the SYSTEM directory on your player.

Get the Rockbox build from here: http://build.rockbox.org/ or compile Rockbox from Git on your own. Then extract rockbox.zip on the Samsung.

* There are some rare models which have the FM tuner. However there is no support for them in Rockbox at all. See THIS thread if you want to help.

** There are some rare models which have the FM tuner. FM hardware and wiring is the same as in case of YH920. However there is no support for them in Rockbox, because we don't know, how to correctly detect its presence.

Issues

RTC problem in Samsung YH-820

In some models of Samsung YH-820, RTC does not work (it can be recognized by time, which always points 02:02:02). This is most likely a hardware issue, associated with version of the motherboard (maybe that's why the OF doesn't use the RTC at all). Probably motherboards in version 1.7 have this problem, and the motherboards version 2.0 - do not (see section "PCB Images" on page SamsungYH).
Malfunction of the RTC leads to hanging the player while recording and almost total unresponsiveness of the device after trying to set the time. The only way of back to normal condition is to remove the battery.

For now, the only way to work around this is to not use these functions in Rockbox, or use the method below.

WARNING: This method worked for me, but that doesn't mean it's completely proven. These instructions come with no guarantees and can be dangerous, so you're trying this at your own risk!!! And only you can be responsible for any damage to the player.

Here's what worked for me: you can try to cut off six legs from the RTC chip, which are marked on the PICTURE, using a sharp tool such as a scalpel or utility knife. Be careful not to cut the remaining legs. The chip is very small and it's very easy to make a mistake.

Note that if you have a Samsung in which the RTC doesn't work, you don't have much to lose. The problem is not to damage something else on the motherboard during this operation. If you dared to try this and the above method worked for you, please leave a message on IRC (the channel is logged).

Battery Runtime

See SamsungRuntime for a collection of battery benches and charging curves.